Coconut Oil is a top favorite of mine. Always use a virgin cold-pressed oil, organic is best, to make sure that all the nutrients and beneficial properties are intact.

Coconut oil’s antioxidant properties protect the skin from free radical damage and because it’s so full of essential fatty acids, it also helps to build and strengthen skin-cell structures. This keeps the skin’s connective tissues strong and supple, which helps to prevent sagging and wrinkles. My skin loves it and I love that it’s easily absorbed.

Cocoa Butter comes from the cocoa bean. It has a distinct nutty, chocolate scent – so yes, you will smell… delicious! When I use it on my skin, my 5-year-old notices right away! Cocoa butter is a rich emollient, it leaves your skin buttery soft. It contains fatty acids which help to retain moisture and build elasticity and also has properties which can help ease dermatitis or rashes. And did I mention it smells like chocolate!

Just like your oils, you want to choose a raw, cold-pressed butter – free of chemicals that are used in bleaching and refining.

Let’s start making our Homemade Whipped Body Butter!

Cocoa Butter is solid, so you’ll need to melt it down in a bain-marie, a hot water bath. You want it to melt over steam, rather than direct heat.

Depending on where you live, and if it’s cold, your coconut oil may be hard…. melt them gently together until completely liquid.

Once the butter is melted, you’ll need to harden it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. TIP: make sure to cover the container in the freezer (with a lid or towel) so that no condensation drips into your butter!

Freeze it until it’s semi-solid – not too soft, not too hard. You should be able to press your finger in easily and make a dent. If it’s not whipping up, put it back in the freezer to harden a little more.

Now, I want to tell you something up front so that you’re not weirded out when you use it. This body butter is unusual in that it melts onto your skin the instant you apply it – like butter on a hot pan. Honestly, I found it to be a bit strange. The recipes that I had read don’t tell you this, so when I first used it, I thought it was greasy and that I wouldn’t like it.

But then, something magical happened – my skin soaked it all in – and instead of feeling greasy, it felt velvety soft! My skin is seriously thanking me and has promised to glow, if I use this everyday.

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Comments (213)

Hey! This looks amazing, and I have been looking for a natural body butter for a while so it’s great to have found this one! It must be lovely living in the heat on the equator, but up here in Canada it’s like I live in an icebox. Should I add more oil so it keeps soft even in the winter? I’ll definitely be trying this in the near future! Keep up the awesomeness! :-)

Hi! I made a recipe similar to this and I noticed how you said it is a little bit greasy. If you add a couple teaspoons of rice flour, corn starch or tapioca flour(which is what I use) it doesn’t make your body butter greasy! Try it out :)

Hi Kristin! Awesome, thanks for the tip! I tried again using 75% cacao butter and 25% coconut oil – and it’s a much better consistency for me – but will def try adding some powder too. Love experimenting! :) Thanks

Hi.. I cant wait to try this when I get home today,, I had a quick question. I love using just cocoa butter and coconut oil for my skin.. im not too keen on other oils could this be possible to make if i skip the almond oil and change the measurements by using just the 2 main ingredients or do you recommend the other oil also? Thanks for the recipe it looks AWESOME!

Hi! Actually, I just made my last batch with only cacao butter and coconut oil and it turned out great. I did 75% cacao butter (3/4 cups) 25% coconut oil (1/4 cup). Let us know how it works out for you! One reader said that she infused vanilla pods into her coconut oil first and I think that sounds pretty amazing too :)

Grace, thank you for the scent blend of frankincense, sandalwood and geranium. Looks like I’ll be making another batch of body butter so I can try out this to-die-for scent blend. Where would you suggest buying essential oils?

Hi Militza, I made a batch of moisturing butter with shea butter, jojoba oil, evening primrose oil, vit E and essential oils of frankincense, sandalwood and geranium. The texture and scent are to die for! It’s now part of my nighttime routine.

I’m definitely trying this recipe soon! Thank you for the ratio, it’s extremely helpful! I think it’s important to note that you make this in a bowl that can switch temperatures (glass or metal) and then be able to whip it in that same bowl. That way you don’t have to worry about transferring the mixture back and forth. I’m thinking I’ll probably use coconut oil as part of both the solid and liquid, but also use some shea or cocoa butter as most of the solid and almond oil as the other part of the liquid – still 75%:25% though. I think that will help with some consistency problems I have when making these sorts of things.

I made the recipe you posted for the virgin coconut oil & cocoa butter body butter and it is outstanding. I had some Madagascar vanilla beans infusing in the hot South Carolina sun in a luxurious blend of oils so I used that instead of the sweet almond oil. I wanted some scent so I added 15 drops patchouli essential oil, 25 drops ylang ylang essential oil and 10 drops of rose garden fragrance oil. I could hardly make out any of these scents above the cocoa butter scent but don’t get me wrong, the cocoa scent is wonderful. Then I tried a second batch using shea butter rather than cocoa butter because I was very interested in capturing the scent. Same proportions as your recipe but I used weight measurement rather than liquid measurement (makes no difference). I also doubled up on the scent concoction mentioned above. It is truly a lovely body butter with a scent that I find addictive. I make lotions and was very excited to make a body butter because I don’t have to use any preservative. Oh! On the second batch I added 6 grams of Vitamin E to reduce the rate of rancidity for the oils. I consider my two attempts huge successes. Body butters are so much different than lotions because they tend to hang out on the surface of the skin for quite awhile. I am choosy about when I use the body butter. Mostly at night after I’ve changed into my jammies and can relax with my wondrous body butter working it’s magic on my skin. Thank you so much for your recipe and tutorial. Elaine

Hiya! A rich butter would be great for keeping the skin hydrated and less prone to stretch marks. Coconut is a healing oil so could be a great choice for your sister. I think this would make a lovely gift!

Are you using the delicious coconut smelling extra virgin coconut oil or the coconut oil that has no smell whatsoever? I have both and hope to try your awesome body butter recipe tomorrow. Thank you for posting the recipe. Elaine

Hi militza! I remelted the whole thing and added 1/8th cup of almond oil to it and it seemed to do the trick. I may have to do an extra 1/4 ext time. And I live in the Bay Area of CA so it’s not too hot, but it does get pretty cold in my house. So that was probably it. :D Thank you!

Love this recipe! But once it hardens it’s very difficult for me to dig it out of the jar because the whole thing became completely solid again. x__x I was going to try remelting it and adding more cocoa butter, but does anyone have any other ideas?

Hi Jessica! Is it cold where you live? I’m thinking it must be the coconut oil which is hardening. Where I live it’s really hot, so the butter stays soft. Maybe for you, it’s best to use a different type of oil, like jojoba, sweet almond or olive oil.

How interesting to hear other’s experiences with the recipe! Thanks for sharing, do try again! :)

Johnnie

I have used aloe vera juice/gel to thin too-thick body butter. It has healing properties & other benefits but I’ve found it to be much more cost-effective than jojoba or many other oils. Also apricot kernel oil is useful, beneficial & generally cheaper than many others. What do you think?

I think that sounds great Johnnie! It’s such a good thing to play and experiment with different ingredients. I love Aloe vera – it’s incredible on the skin. I haven’t worked with apricot kernel, but would love to know your experience with it.

I made one batch, as a test run, before I make the larger amount. It was too thick actually… and had some chunks in it. The freezing process was tricky- it was solid on the sides, but still liquid in the middle. So I had to let it get closer to room temperature in order to mix it with the kitchen aid.

Hi Myda! The only reason that I don’t mention essential oils is because I don’t know how to use them! They are incredibly potent, actually medicinal – so we have to be sure of side effects and exact measurements. That said, if you do your research, adding essential oils can be a great! For the butter – I would use oils that have a lighter fragrance so that the essential oil can come through – almond oil and jojoba oil are pretty light and Shea Butter might be better than cocoa butter, since cocoa has strong chocolate scent. Let me know how it works out :)

Great stuff! I want to try this but have never made any beauty recipes in my life and his recipe seems like a tall order. BUT I am a big believer in moisturizing so I gotta try this at least. Thanks so much for sharing this as well as where to buy the ingredients. Cheers!

Hi there, i live in singapore too! i’m trying to whip up a batch with shea butter, cocoa butter and solid coconut oil. What do you think my proportions should be so that it won’t melt too quickly in our humid temperature?

Hi Sher! I think we should consider your coconut oil as the liquid – and the shea & cocoa butter as the hard – so it would be:

75% shea & cocoa 25% coconut oil

so that could be:

3/4 cup of mixed cocoa butter & shea butter 1/4 cup of coconut oil

You can divide the cocoa and shea equally, or add more or less, depending on which one you want to be more prominent in your lotion. This is where you can play with proportions. If you don’t want to use up a lot of your oils and butters as you experiment – make smaller batches. Just remember, what ever measurement you are working in, keep it at: 75% hard (butters) 25% liquid (oils)

hope that helps! Let me know how you get on :)

Sher

Hi Militza!

Thank so much for your advice! I will try making it once my ingredients from iherb arrives and update you on my end product! xoxo :)

Hi Maggie! It doesn’t need to, although where I live it’s hot, so after a while, it looses its… oomph. If you put it in the fridge it will harden again… but either way, you could always try re-whipping! I haven’t tried that, because I’m using it up so quickly as it is – but let us know how you get on with yours!

Hello….. super easy recipe; however, I just made this and I actually find it very waxy on my skin. I normally mix coconut oil in with my lotion so I am totally used to the initial greasy feeling that you had described in your instructions, however, I don’t feel like my skin has totally absorbed the body butter. It isn’t greasy but it is almost like a film. Any ideas as to why and any idea how to remedy this? Thanks!

About Me

Hi, I'm Militza

I was a busy mom living in a busy city, frustrated by the things I learned about the products I brought into my home. I began to make my own skincare from necessity and it turned into a happy, healthy & green lifestyle. And now I want the same for you too.